President Bush (web|news|bio) took a shot Monday at all those people saying his weeklong trip to Europe would be his last as president. Uh, that would include you, sir. At a news conference with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Bush issued this curious quote: "This has been a good trip. By the way, some are speculating this is my last trip. Let them speculate. Who knows?"

Yes, it is true that many news stories about Bush's journey referred to it as his farewell tour of Europe as president, as his term ends in January.

But that wasn't just speculation based on his shrinking time in office.

It was based on Bush's own words at the start of the trip in Slovenia, just six days earlier.

"It's interesting," Bush said then. "My first visit as U.S. president to Europe included a - my first stop in Slovenia. My last visit as U.S. president to Europe includes first stop in Slovenia. It's a fitting circle."

Maybe it was a long week of travel and he forgot.

Maybe he was suggesting that he might return to Europe as a private citizen, which is an entirely different point.

Or maybe he was just speculating.

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Could self-government just be something for "white-guy Methodists?"

Bush mused about that possibility Monday when riffing on freedom, a subject that always loosens his tongue.

The white, Methodist president was challenging anyone who believes stability in a society such as Iraq (web|news) might be more important than democracy.

"Perhaps freedom is not universal," Bush offered. "Maybe it's only Western people that can self-govern. Maybe it's only, you know, white-guy Methodists who are capable of self-government.

"I reject that notion. I think that's the ultimate form of political elitism, and I believe an accurate reading of history says that freedom can bring peace we want."

He made the comments at the news conference with Brown, a white-guy son of a Church of Scotland minister.

"And can I just emphasize," Brown echoed, that "the passion for freedom I think is a universal value, and I believe that Iraq is a democracy today because of the action that we have taken."

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If Bush happened to fly over Belfast, he might have seen a message on a mountainside written especially for him: NO BUSH.

Hundreds of locals who don't like Bush or his foreign policies climbed up the boggy, fern-thick hillside of Black Mountain over the weekend carrying bagfuls of white cloth. They used the blankets, towels, bedsheets and other garments to spell out the message in 100-foot-high letters that could be seen for several miles away, including in central Belfast.

Bush's advisers said he was coming to Belfast to see power-sharing in action. Ironic, then, that massive security arrangements ensured that the Northern Ireland Assembly was shut down for the day and virtually no members of the 108-member legislature showed up for work.

Normally, Monday would be the busiest day of the week with a full assembly debate.

But the U.S. Secret Service insisted that the grounds around Stormont - a collection of government buildings that is the base for both the power-sharing coalition and the British government in Northern Ireland - be closed to the public since Friday. The area includes popular parkland and a children's playground. Security was so tight that a funeral planned to take place at a nearby Presbyterian church had to be postponed until Tuesday.

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Bush ended his trip shooting hoops with Protestant and Catholic children in Northern Ireland. He went 0-4.

The president stopped by Loughview Integrated Primary School in Belfast to highlight efforts to bring together Catholic and Protestant students. Most children in Northern Ireland attend schools that are segregated by religion.

Bush was visibly disappointed when his first shot turned out to be an air ball. Two more hit the backboard but didn't go in. His layup was unsuccessful, too.

When a young girl shot an air, Bush said, "I know how you feel."

The children were members of an organization called PeacePlayers International of Northern Ireland, a group that operates around the world to address sectarianism and to foster mutual respect and tolerance. The players were invited to the school to meet with Bush.

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Once a librarian, always a librarian.

Laura Bush could have toured Buckingham Palace, shopped up a storm on Bond Street, taken tea at the Ritz, or attended any show in town.

So where did she spend her precious free time Monday on her last official visit to London? Charles Dickens' house, of course.

She seemed quite happy walking through the rooms where the great 19th-century English novelist lived and worked, enjoying the chance to open his writing box, pick up his pen and quill, and admire the elegant monogrammed inkwell that was a status symbol in his day.

"This is very fabulous," she said to Charles Dickens Museum director Andrew Xavier as he showed her handwritten journals from one of Dickens' visits to the United States.

Bush, a former librarian and longtime advocate of books and literacy, used the excursion as part of a crusade to renew interest in the classics. She knows that many Americans prefer lighter reading - or television - to the works of Dickens, Mark Twain, Herman Melville and other literary masters.

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Associated Press writers Gregory Katz and Shawn Pogatchnik contributed to this story.

Written By DEB RIECHMANN

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